Louis M. Cohn - Biography

Louis M. Cohn (Breslau, Prussia March 10, 1853-1942) was a Chicago importer who claimed to have been in Mrs. O'Leary's barn the night the Great Chicago Fire started there in 1871.

According to Cohn, on the night of the fire, he, then 18, was gambling in the O'Learys' barn with one of their sons and some other neighborhood boys. When Mrs. O'Leary came out to the barn to chase the kids away around 9:00 on October 8, they knocked over a lantern in their flight, although Cohn states that he paused long enough to scoop up the money.

Following his death, Cohn bequeathed $35,000 which was assigned by his executors to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. The bequest was given to the school on September 28, 1944, along with his confession.